JP2001522213A - Monitoring network elements - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] The basic idea of the present invention is to use a mobile telephone already installed in a wireless network and a control device for controlling the telephone. An example of such a telephone is a telephone installed in a wireless repeater. According to the invention, the mobile telephone of the radio repeater is used for both receiving and originating test calls. A controller in the wireless repeater is configured to make a test call to another repeater in response to receiving the test call. These successive test calls form a test chain. A repeater can belong to multiple test chains. In this embodiment, repeaters belonging to a plurality of test chains are given a list of test telephone numbers, ie, the telephone numbers of the wireless repeaters for each chain. Chains are distinguished by the telephone number or other identifier of the previous repeater in the chain.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

【Technical field】

The invention relates to monitoring network elements in a wireless telecommunications network.

[0002]

[Background Art]

The network elements associated with a known wireless telecommunications network and the connections between them are shown in FIG. The network used as an example herein is based on the GSM standard. In the figure,
Solid lines indicate connections that include both signaling and traffic connections. The dashed line
Supports pure signaling connection. The network comprises a mobile station MS, a radio repeater, base transceiver stations (BTS1-BTS6), base station controllers (BSC1, BSC2) and mobile switching stations (MSCA, MSCB). Mobile switching stations are connected to their corresponding visitor location registers VLR. In addition, the network uses the home location register HLR
And a network management system NMS.

[0003] A mobile station MS can establish a connection with a base station BTS. This connection can be established directly between the MS and the BTS, or it can be established using a radio repeater that amplifies the mobile and base station signals. For example, the signal transmitted by the mobile station MS shown in FIG. 1 is first amplified by a wireless repeater "Repeater 1"
Received by S4. The BTS 4 transmits the information included in the signal to the mobile switching center MSCA via the base station controller BSC2. Based on the location of the called subscriber, the MSCA may direct the call to a base station controller BSC1 or BSC2 controlled by the MSCA, to another mobile switching center such as MSCB, to another such as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). To a telecommunications network or ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network).

[0004] The network management system NMS is used to collect information such as network traffic conditions, and to load configuration information and programs into other network elements. Multiple network management systems can be used for one network. For example, mobile switching center MS
C can be controlled by one NMS, the base station controller and the base station can be controlled by another NMS, and the radio repeater can be controlled by a third NMS. These different management systems can also be connected to each other for information exchange.

The purpose of a wireless repeater is shown in FIG. The basic task of a repeater is to amplify the base station signal where the direct signal from the base station is not very strong. The repeater includes a receiver, an amplifier, and a transmitter. Basically, the repeater may be unidirectional or bidirectional, ie amplify the signal in only one direction (eg, from base station to mobile station) or in both directions (ie, from base station to mobile station and vice versa). can do. Usually, a bidirectional repeater is used. Wireless repeaters, for example, in urban environments
Can be used to amplify indoor signals.

[0006] In order to be able to control a network, knowledge about the state of the network must be gathered. Error conditions, for example, have a significant effect on the performance of the network and must be taken into account as soon as possible, taking into account when justifying network parameters. Therefore, network elements must be monitored. Here, monitoring of the base station and the wireless repeater will be described. The base station is provided with a test telephone for monitoring the function of the base station. The base station is tested by establishing a test call based on instructions provided by the network management system.
If an error occurs, the base station sends an alarm to the network management system using a special channel for management messages.

[0007] A modem connection is used to monitor the wireless repeater. The wireless repeater is connected to the network management system by a modem connection and a mobile phone,
Connected to the repeater mobile telecommunications system. Such a system is shown in FIG. This figure also shows a test telephone STM (site test measurement) at the base station site. Mobile phone M in repeater
S listens to the signal of the base station BTS. When needed, a modem connection between the repeater and the network management system is established via the mobile telephone. With the modem connection, the network management system sends configuration parameters, such as the wireless channel to be used, the transmission power, the telephone number of the modem of the management system, etc. to the wireless repeater. Correspondingly, the wireless repeater sends a management system alarm indicating error conditions and defects and a confirmation of the configuration message received from the NMS.

[0008] Establishing a connection between the NMS and the repeater can be initiated by either the management system NMS or the repeater. The NMS initiates a connection with the repeater to change or check the configuration parameters of the repeater. To communicate with the repeater, the modem of the network management system NMS establishes a connection with the repeater's modem via the transmission network. This connection is established when the transmitting modem identifies a free modem line in the transmitting network. The modem identifier is stored in the network management system. When the sending network is a regular telephone network, the identifier is the telephone number of the modem.

[0009] The repeater contacts the NMS to send an alarm. This is done by using the management system modem identification stored in the repeater. To ensure that the repeater can send management system alarms as needed, the management system establishes a test call to the modem of the repeater it controls. This procedure, called repeater heartbeat control, is shown in FIG. In this figure, the network management system NMS establishes a test modem call to the repeaters “repeater 1”, “repeater 2” and “repeater 3”. First
First, a test call to repeater 1 is established using the MSISDN number (Mobile Subscriber Services Integrated Digital Network Number) of the mobile telephone at the repeater. Second, a test call to the repeater 2 is made. Third, a test call to the repeater 3 is made.

[0010] The arrangement described above has a number of significant disadvantages. In order to monitor the functionality of the base station, a test phone and its control logic must be implemented at the base station. Test telephones are expensive, for example, because their production is small compared to the production of mobile telephones. In order to monitor a wireless repeater using heartbeat control according to known techniques, the network management system must establish a test call to each repeater that it controls periodically. This method is slow and specifies a lot of capacity in the network management system. To reduce the time delay between test calls, the number of wireless repeaters controlled by one network management system must be reduced. Therefore, the need for heartbeat control increases the required number of network management systems, and thus increases the cost of network operators.

[0011]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problem. This object is achieved by a method and a device according to the independent claims. The basic idea of the invention is to use a mobile telephone already installed in the wireless network and a control device for controlling the telephone. Such a telephone is, for example, a telephone installed in a wireless repeater. According to the invention, the mobile telephone of the radio repeater is used for both receiving and originating test calls. A controller in the wireless repeater is configured to make a test call to another repeater in response to receiving the test call. These successive test calls form a test chain.

A repeater can belong to a plurality of test chains. In this embodiment,
Repeaters belonging to a plurality of test chains are given a list of test telephone numbers, ie, telephone numbers of wireless repeaters for each chain. These chains are distinguished by the telephone number or other identifier of the previous repeater in the chain. If the test call between the two repeaters is successful, both the base station of the calling repeater and the base station of the called repeater are in a normal operating state. In addition, both repeater mobile phones and modems are in normal operating condition,
Thus, the repeater can contact the network management system as needed for alarm purposes.

If the test call was unsuccessful, but the previous test call in the chain was successful, the conclusion is that either the base station of the called repeater or the mobile phone does not function properly. Become. If a call to a different repeater of the same base station is unsuccessful, it is concluded that the base station has an error. The mobile telephone and its control in the repeater are independent units. Therefore, the error condition of the repeater does not break the test chain.

A test chain can be constructed by directly sending necessary information, such as the identification of the next repeater in the chain, from the network management system to each repeater in the test chain. Alternatively, the management system may send information about the entire chain to the first repeater in the chain. This information is then transferred through the chain in a test call between repeaters. Further, to monitor the test procedure, the management system can request one or more repeaters to send management system feedback related to the test call. In addition to wireless repeaters, other mobile phones already installed in the network can be used to monitor the base station.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present invention, the problems of the prior art are solved by using a mobile telephone and a device for controlling it, both of which are already installed in the radio repeater. Repeaters are ordered into test chains. The repeater receives the test call from the previous repeater in the test chain and responds by making a test call to the next repeater in the test chain.

A test chain according to the present invention is shown in FIG. The network management system NMS initiates the procedure by issuing a test call to the repeater 1 using the MSISDN number of the mobile telephone at the repeater. The test call is routed through the transmitting network, in this case the transponder's GSM network. The repeater mobile phone is paged and listens to the page when listening to the signal transmitted by base station BTS1. When the mobile phone hears the page,
Requests a channel from the BTS and the call is established. If the call is successful, BT
It can be concluded that both S1 and the mobile telephone and its control in the repeater 1 operate normally. If the call cannot be established, the network management system concludes that an error condition has occurred in either the repeater mobile phone or the base station BTS1. If a number of wireless repeaters are installed to amplify the signal of BTS1, the NMS responds that the test call to the mobile telephone of the first repeater amplifying the signal of BTS1 is unsuccessful. Then, a test call can be made to another wireless repeater of the same base station. If this test call is successful, it can be deduced that an error condition exists in the mobile telephone of the first repeater or in the control unit of the mobile telephone.

If the repeater phone can detect signals from multiple base stations,
A test call directed to the phone can be successful even if the repeater's primary base station is not functioning. However, the base stations include their identification information BSIC (base station identification code) in their signals. Thus, the phone can identify the base station used for the test call. If the telephone cannot hear the signal from the base station to which it is primarily connected, and therefore cannot receive a test call with that base station, it concludes that the base station is not functioning.
The incoming test call can also be established with another base station whose signal is strong enough at the repeater location. The control unit of the repeater telephone then informs the network management system of the error condition of the primary base station of the repeater via the other base station.

When the device controlling the repeater's mobile telephone receives the call, it establishes a second test call to the repeater 2 based on the instructions sent by the network management system. To establish a call, the mobile phone of repeater 2 is paged. The mobile phone listens to the signal transmitted by its base station BTS2 and requests a channel from BTS2 in response to listening to the page. In response to this request, a call is established. If the call is successful, it can be concluded that the BTS 2 and the mobile telephone of the repeater 2 and its controller function normally.
If the call cannot be established, the device that controls the mobile telephone of the repeater 1 sends an alarm to the network management system indicating that the test call to the repeater 2 was unsuccessful. The management system then concludes that an error condition has occurred in either the repeater mobile phone or the base station BTS2. even here,
If a large number of wireless repeaters are installed to amplify the signal of BTS1,
In response to the unsuccessful test call to the mobile telephone of the first repeater amplifying the signal of the base station, another test call can be made to another wireless repeater of the same base station. The second test call can be initiated by either the wireless repeater or the network management system that made the first test call. If this second test call was successful, the error condition will be
It can be assumed that what happened to the mobile telephone of the repeater or the control unit of the mobile telephone.

Upon receiving the test call from the repeater 1, the device that controls the repeater 2 makes a test call to the next repeater in the test chain, ie, the repeater 3. Again,
The mobile phone of the repeater 3 is paged. The mobile phone listens to the signal transmitted by its base station BTS3 and, in response to listening to the page,
Request a channel from TS3. A call is established in response to the request being received by the base station. If the call is successful, BTS3 and repeater 3
It can be concluded that the mobile telephone and its control device work properly. If the call cannot be established, the device that controls the mobile station of repeater 2 sends an alarm to the network management system indicating that the test call to repeater 3 was unsuccessful. The management system then concludes that an error condition has occurred in either the repeater's mobile phone or base station BTS3.

Upon receiving a test call from repeater 2, the device controlling repeater 3 makes a test call to the next repeater in the test chain, and so on. The chain can be closed to keep the monitoring procedure active at all times. In this case, the control of the mobile telephone in the repeater is arranged to wait for a predetermined delay after receiving the test call and before making a test call to the next repeater in the test chain. Is effective. The time difference between the test call to the repeater and the test call,
It can be set to an optimal value by a defined delay to increase the efficiency of the procedure while avoiding unnecessary use of radio resources in the network.

As shown in FIG. 5, the NMS only needs to make one test call to put all base stations and the mobile phones of the repeaters of the test chain into a test state. Therefore, monitoring the repeater's heartbeat does not limit the number of repeaters controlled by the management system. The geographic coverage area of the network element monitored using the test chain is shown in FIG. The monitored coverage area is shown as a shaded area in the figure. A successful test call from the network management system to repeater R1 indicates that the operation of BTS1 and repeater R1 is reliable. Thus, it can be assumed that the network is in operation mode in the coverage area of BTS1 shown as a hexagon and the coverage area of repeater R1 shown as a triangle.

A successful test call from repeater R1 to repeater R2 indicates that the operation of BTS2 and repeater R2 is reliable. Thus, the network comprises a coverage area of BTS2 shown as a hexagon and a repeater R2 shown as a triangle.
In the operation mode in the coverage area of Similarly, a successful test call from repeater R2 to repeater R3 indicates that operation of BTS3 and repeater R3 is reliable. Thus, it can be assumed that the network is in operation mode in the coverage area of BTS3 shown as a hexagon and the coverage area of repeater R3 shown as a triangle.

One repeater can belong to multiple test chains. This embodiment is shown in FIG. In the figure, two test chains A and B are specified.
Test chain A consists of repeaters R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6.
This test chain is a network management system NMS that manages a wireless repeater.
Initiated by a test call from. The test chain continues with R1 making a test call to R2, R2 making a test call to R3, and so on, to R5 making a test call to R6. In response to the test call received from R5, R6 initiates a test call to R1 and the procedure is continued, ie, the chain is closed. In order to obtain an optimal time difference between test calls, the repeater or at least some repeaters may send the test call after receiving the test call and to the next repeater in the test chain. You are instructed to wait a predetermined time before doing so. The relay of the test call in the test chain can preferably be stopped by a stop message sent by the network management system to the repeater in the chain. In response to receiving the stop message, the repeater does not initiate a test call to the next repeater in the chain. The stop message is preferably sent to the first repeater in the chain.

The test chain B is composed of repeaters R8, R7, R5, R4, R9 and R10. This chain is open, ie, repeater R10 does not make a test call in response to receiving a test call from R9. Thus, the NMS can control the time delay between test calls to individual repeaters, and there is no need for a delay between receiving one test call and starting the next test call. This test chain is started by making a test call from the network management system managing the repeater to the repeater R8. In response to this call, R8
Make a test call to 7. Upon receiving the test call from R8, R7 sets R
Initiate a test call to test chain 5, test chain A and test chain B
Belong to both.

In response to the test call received from R7, R5 makes a test call to R4. On the other hand, in response to receiving a test call belonging to chain A from R4, a test call to R6 is made. Therefore, test calls belonging to different test chains must be distinguished from each other. R5 must include the following information: If the received test call is from R4, make a test call to R6 after the delay D; and if the received test call is from R7, immediately make a test call to R4. Do.

The test chain is planned in a repeater network management system or other network management system. The telephone number of the mobile telephone with which the repeater should make a test call is transmitted to the unit controlling the mobile telephone of the repeater. If the repeater belongs to more than one test chain, a list of telephone numbers, each specifying the telephone number of the next repeater in that particular chain, is sent to the unit. The list sent to the repeater R5 in the above example is as follows. Calling telephone call repeater ID called telephone the called repeater delay 040-257 7755 4 040-257 8888 6 2 040-257 6333 7 040-257 7755 4 0

The above table shows two test chains. The Calling Phone field
Contains the MSISDN number of the repeater that made a test call to this repeater. Then
The calling line identification represented in the incoming test call can be used as a key when determining which test chain the received test call belongs to. The "Calling repeater ID" field contains the identity of the called repeater and is used as a key to identify the test chain if the identity of the calling repeater is transferred to the called repeater during a test call. can do. The "Called Phone" field contains the MSISD of the next repeater in the test chain.
Give N number. This is the number to be dialed by the unit controlling the mobile phone when establishing a test call.

The “Called Repeater” field is the identity of the next repeater in the test chain.
The "delay" field is the amount of delay before making a test call to the next repeater in the test chain. If no delay is indicated, the test call to the next repeater in the test chain is started immediately after receiving the test call from the previous repeater in the chain. The list of telephone numbers for the next repeater in the test chain can be transferred directly from the network management system to the repeater. Alternatively, the network management system may send a list containing the telephone numbers of all repeaters in the chain to the first repeater in the chain when making the new chain available for use. The first repeater is
Add information about the new test chain to memory and transfer the list to the second repeater in the chain. Again, the second repeater adds information about the new chain to its memory and forwards the list to it. This continues until the last repeater in the chain.

The test chain is activated by a start command sent by the repeater management system to the first repeater of the test chain. Upon receiving the start command, the unit controlling the repeater's mobile phone reads the telephone number of the next repeater in that particular chain. If there is more than one test chain, the recognition of the activated test chain must also be transferred. If the test chain is closed, it can be activated by a start command sent to one of the repeaters in the test chain.

Upon receiving a test call from another identified repeater, the unit controlling the repeater's mobile telephone examines its memory to determine which repeater should make the test call here. The call is made, and if it is successful, the test chain continues. If the call is unsuccessful, the unit sends an alarm message to the network management system that controls the repeater. One way to identify the location of the malfunction observed in the alarm message is to identify the repeater for which the test call was unsuccessful. The network management system can then determine the identity of the base station to which the repeater is connected, and notify an operator using the management system of possible defects. Alternatively, if the base station identity is stored in the memory of the unit controlling the mobile telephone, it can be identified directly in the alarm message. In one embodiment, the mobile phone is another mobile phone in the test chain,
Preferably, the test chain may be configured to continue in this state by making a test call to the next mobile phone after the unsuccessful test call in the test chain.

The network management system preferably has means for checking whether the test chain continues. This can be done, for example, by requesting one or more repeaters in the test chain to report the time of the last call or the next test call. Reporting of a successful test call can also be implemented as a chain, a confirmation chain. In this embodiment, the management system notifies the repeaters in the test chain that all successful test calls must be reported to the NMS. This repeater becomes the first element of the confirmation chain. In response to a successful test call, the repeater sends a message to the management system indicating that the test chain is operating properly at that stage. In addition, the repeater notifies the next repeater in the test chain to send an acknowledgment to the management system in response to the successful test call. This continues until an acknowledgment request arrives at the repeater commanded not to continue the acknowledgment chain. This is, for example, the first transponder of the confirmation chain.

In yet another embodiment, only certain repeaters are required to pass information that the test chain procedure has successfully passed the repeaters. As an example of this embodiment, one repeater of the closed test chain sends a notification to the network element as the test chain procedure passes through the repeater. The procedure is started by a start command and can be stopped by a stop command sent by the network management system. The request can also be forwarded with the test call if multiple repeaters in the chain, for example, each third relay in the chain, should report the progress of the test procedure. In this case, the first repeater notifies the management system of the success of the test call.
In addition, every third repeater sends a command to the management system that the progress of the test procedure should be notified to the management system, and a counter having a value of 1 to the second repeater in the chain.
The second repeater forwards this information to the third repeater in the chain and counts the counter by two.
To increase. The third repeater forwards the information to the fourth repeater in the chain, and increments the counter to three. In response to receiving the test call, the fourth repeater sends a notification of the progress of the test chain to the management system. When continuing the chain to the next repeater with a test call, the fourth repeater also informs the next repeater that every third repeater should inform the management system of the progress of the test procedure and Set the counter to the value 1, and so on.

For example, a new means required for the control unit for controlling the mobile telephone of the repeater is shown in FIG. 8A. The repeater mobile phone can both receive and place calls. According to the invention, the wireless repeater comprises:-means for receiving a call from another repeater;-memory for storing information about the test call;-determination means for responding to the memory and the means for receiving the test call. Determining means for determining whether to make a test call to the next repeater; and means for making a test call to another repeater in response to the determining means.

These functions can be easily implemented in a device that controls a mobile telephone. Further, if the test chain can be changed dynamically, the repeater has means for receiving the necessary information, such as the telephone number of the next repeater in the chain. Optionally, the test chain information may be transmitted using a means for transferring the test chain information,
It can also be forwarded to another repeater in the test chain. These means may include selection means for selecting information related to other wireless repeaters, in which case:
Only the information selected in this way is transferred to another wireless repeater.

A new means required for the network management system NMS is shown in FIG. 8B. To define and activate the test chain, the network management system controlling the repeater includes:-receiving means for receiving manual input;-generating means for generating test chain information in response to said receiving means; Means for transmitting test chain information to another network element, such as a wireless repeater, in response to said generating means.

For clarity of the description herein, all network elements of the example test chain were wireless repeaters. However, this is not important to the invention. Because the test chain is a phone belonging to the system of the network,
And it may comprise other elements of the wireless network, consisting of a control unit for controlling the installed telephones, or it may have only that. Such a telephone is, for example, a telephone used for remote control of a device such as a measuring device. The test mobile phone of the base station can also be included in the test chain.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the structure of a mobile telecommunications network.

FIG. 2 illustrates the purpose of a wireless repeater.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of controlling a wireless repeater.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the principle of heartbeat control of a wireless repeater.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a test chain.

FIG. 6 shows a coverage area of a monitored network element.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing two test chains.

FIG. 8A shows an apparatus for using a test chain.

FIG. 8B shows an apparatus for using a test chain.

[Procedural Amendment] Submission of translation of Article 34 Amendment of the Patent Cooperation Treaty

[Submission Date] January 13, 2000 (2000.1.13)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (81) Designated country EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE ), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, SD, SZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CN, CU, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IS, JP, KE, KG , KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZWF terms (reference) 5K019 AA02 BA45 CC12 CC14 CC16 DA03 DC05 5K042 AA06 BA01 CA02 CA15 DA11 EA04 FA11 5K067 AA01 DD41 EE02 EE06 EE10 EE32 LL15

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. A method for monitoring a network element in a wireless telecommunications network, said network comprising a network management system and a plurality of elements including a telephone and control means for controlling the telephone, wherein the telephone comprises a network. A connection can be made to a base station, the method comprising establishing a test chain including a plurality of elements, establishing a test call to an element in the test chain, and responding to receiving the test call. Wherein said element makes a test call to the next element in the test chain. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one element of the test chain is a radio repeater. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one element of the test chain is a base station including a test mobile phone. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one element of the test chain is a remote control located within a coverage area of a network. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the test chain is open. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the test chain is closed. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of test chains are established. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein at least one element belongs to a plurality of test chains. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the network management system sends to all elements belonging to the chain information about the next element in the chain. 10. The network management system sends to a first element of the chain information about all elements in the chain and their mutual order, and the first element transmits this information to another element of the test chain. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transfer is performed. 11. The method of claim 1, wherein in response to the unsuccessful call to the next element in the chain, the management system is sent an error message indicating the failure of the call. . 12. In response to receiving the error message, the network management system informs an operator of the network management system that the base station from which the called telephone has established a connection may have an error. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the notification is made to: 13. The network management system of claim 11, wherein in response to receiving the error message, the network management system notifies an operator of the network management system that the called telephone may have an error. Method. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the network management system initiates a test call in a test chain by sending a start command to one element of the test chain. 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the network management system stops a test call in a test chain by sending a stop command to one element of the test chain. 16. The network management system requests an element to report the success of a test call, and in response to the success of the test call, the element contacts the network management system to generate a test call. 2. The method of claim 1, informing the network management system that the was successful. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the reporting procedure is stopped by a stop message sent by a network management system. 18. The network management system sends a request for a report on the progress of a test procedure in a test chain to an element of the test chain at predetermined intervals, and the element sends this information to a next element in the test chain. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the transmitting and the progress of the test procedure in the test chain are reported to the network management system at predetermined intervals. 19. The test chain of claim 1, wherein each element of the test chain responds to the test call by reporting progress of a test chain test procedure to the network management system.
9. The method according to 8. 20. A wireless repeater of a wireless telecommunications network, the network comprising a network management system and a plurality of elements including a telephone and control means for controlling the telephone, wherein the telephone is a base station of the network. And the wireless repeater comprises means for receiving a test call, and a memory for storing information about the test chain, the information including knowledge of a next element in the test chain; A determining means for responding to the memory and the means for receiving the test call, the determining means having a function of determining whether to make a test call to a next element in the test chain; And a means for making a test call to another element. 21. The wireless repeater according to claim 20, wherein the wireless repeater further comprises means for receiving information about a test chain. 22. The wireless repeater according to claim 20, wherein the wireless repeater further comprises means for transferring information about the test chain to another wireless repeater. 23. A control unit for controlling a telephone of a wireless telecommunications network, said network comprising: a network management system;
A telephone and a plurality of elements including a control means for controlling the telephone, the telephone being capable of making a connection to a base station of the network, the control unit comprising: means for receiving a call; A memory for storing, the information comprising knowledge of the next element in the test chain, and further determining means for responding to the memory and the means for receiving the test call, the method comprising: determining a test call to another element; A control unit comprising: a determination unit having a function of determining whether to perform the test; and a unit that performs a test call to another element in response to the determination unit. 24. The control unit according to claim 23, further comprising means for receiving and storing information about the test chain. 25. The control unit according to claim 23, wherein the control unit further comprises means for transferring information about the test chain to another control unit of the telephone. 26. A network management system for controlling a repeater of a wireless network, the network comprising a network management system and a plurality of elements including a telephone and control means for controlling the telephone, wherein the telephone comprises: , A connection to a network base station, the network management system comprising: receiving means for receiving manual input; and generating means for generating test chain information in response to the receiving means; The test chain includes a plurality of elements, wherein the elements of the test chain are configured to make a test call to a next element of the chain in response to receiving a test call from an element earlier in the chain, and And transmitting means for transmitting test chain information to the element in response to the generating means. And a network management system.